Teen charged in kirpan assault denies using dagger as weapon

A 13-year-old Montreal boy who allegedly used his Sikh ceremonial dagger and hairpin as weapons against two students at his school denies the incident ever happened.

The teen, whose identity is protected by the court because of his age, is charged with three counts of assault after an alleged confrontation last September at a school in the Montreal borough of LaSalle.

'[A police officer] told me to unwrap my kirpan, and I told her I was not allowed, and she said I had no choice.' — 13-year-old boy accused in kirpan assault

The teen told Montreal youth court on Monday that he never removed his kirpan from its protective wrapping until he was told to by police long after the incident was supposed to have occurred.

"[A police officer] told me to unwrap my kirpan, and I told her I was not allowed, and she said I had no choice," the teen testified on Monday.

"I was wondering why they were asking me to take it out."

Teen had just received his kirpan

The incident allegedly took place at Cavelier de LaSalle high school in Montreal's LaSalle borough on Sept. 11.

The accused's mother has testified that her son had just been baptized a few weeks earlier, and received his kirpan and hairpin as part of his faith as an orthodox Sikh.

The mother said she had wrapped the kirpan that morning for him in a cloth to wear under his clothing.

The incident was allegedly sparked when the teen told two brothers at the school to stop following him during a lunch break.

That's when the brothers testified that the teen pulled out his kirpan and hairpin, and began waving them around.

They testified the teen touched the end of the kirpan to one of their chests and threatened the other brother with the long hairpin.

The teen also denied using the hairpin as a weapon during his testimony on Monday.

The teen is one of the final witnesses to testify at the trial. Closing arguments are also expected to take place this week.

The right for a student to wear a kirpan in school was upheld in 2006 after the Supreme Court of Canada struck down a Montreal school board's ban of the wearing of the ceremonial dagger in school.

The accused and the alleged victims in the case are enrolled at a school that is part of the same board.